SC to hear plea on live streaming Ayodhya case on Sep 16

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The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that on September 16 it will examine a plea seeking live streaming and recording of the daily hearings in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute case.

New Delhi:

A bench head by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said it will hear next week the plea filed by former BJP leader and RSS ideologue K.N. Govindacharya seeking live streaming and audio recording of the proceedings in court.

As per the plea, if none of these facilities can be arranged, the apex court should at least prepare the transcripts of the proceedings for record. The transcripts can be released online later.

The Ayodhya land dispute case is currently being heard by a five-judge constitution bench headed by the Chief Justice.

In his plea, Govindacharya cited the Supreme Court's September 2018 ruling that court proceedings in the country can be live streamed. The ruling came on a petition filed by the think-tank, Centre for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC).

According to the petition, despite around a year having gone by, the implementation of the apex court's ruling was yet to be implemented.

Govindacharya, in his petition, said: "This case is a matter of national importance. There are crores of persons, including the petitioner, who want to witness proceedings before this court, but cannot do the same due to the present norms in the Supreme Court."

He said that people were desperate for early justice in the Ram Temple case, as Lord Ram had been kept in a makeshift structure for the past many years.

"This matter has been pending in the Supreme Court for the last nine years, and the public at large is interested in knowing the reasons behind the delay in deciding the cases," the petitioner added.

Govindacharya also said that as a digital super power, India has the means to arrange for live streaming of the Ayodhya case hearings.